Disclaimer: not mine, no money-making intended, don't sue

~~~~~~~

And only Jarod had lost.

With letting go, he had deliberately pushed the other man into the raging war; into an abyss with no way of escaping from. To break free the other man would have to know the background. And just like the PTB’s wouldn’t let him reunite with his mother, they would keep those reasons from him.

Well, he couldn’t care less. He was finally free.

To remain free he would keep an eye on the ‘superior pretender’ so that he wouldn’t by any chance re-emerge from the war and win the game.

Alex would make sure of that.

Disclaimer: see part one

~~~~~~~

He’d done enough simulations, relived feelings of others, to recognise the signs of stress and anxiety.

The constant stain of looking over his shoulder and be prepared to run now taking it’s toll.

Though there was no permanent gunfire or combat gear around, he still found himself in the middle of a war.

A very real one and one he couldn’t afford to lose. A war with many parallels to any army officer’s reality. There were occasional bullets whizzing through the air, tactics, assumptions and lies… and there was the immanent fear of failure - which would end it all.